Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C17/00—Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by coating
  • C03C17/22—Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by coating with other inorganic material
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P14/00—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars
  • H10P14/20—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials
  • H10P14/26—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials using liquid deposition
  • H10P14/265—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials using liquid deposition using solutions
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P14/00—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars
  • H10P14/20—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials
  • H10P14/29—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials characterised by the substrates
  • H10P14/2901—Materials
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P14/00—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars
  • H10P14/20—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials
  • H10P14/29—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials characterised by the substrates
  • H10P14/2901—Materials
  • H10P14/2922—Materials being non-crystalline insulating materials, e.g. glass or polymers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P14/00—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars
  • H10P14/20—Formation of materials, e.g. in the shape of layers or pillars of semiconductor materials
  • H10P14/34—Deposited materials, e.g. layers
  • H10P14/3402—Deposited materials, e.g. layers characterised by the chemical composition
  • H10P14/3414—Deposited materials, e.g. layers characterised by the chemical composition being group IIIA-VIA materials
  • H10P14/3421—Arsenides
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C2217/00—Coatings on glass
  • C03C2217/20—Materials for coating a single layer on glass
  • C03C2217/28—Other inorganic materials
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C2218/00—Methods for coating glass
  • C03C2218/10—Deposition methods
  • C03C2218/11—Deposition methods from solutions or suspensions
  • C03C2218/112—Deposition methods from solutions or suspensions by spraying
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S117/00—Single-crystal, oriented-crystal, and epitaxy growth processes; non-coating apparatus therefor
  • Y10S117/906—Special atmosphere other than vacuum or inert
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S438/00—Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
  • Y10S438/967—Semiconductor on specified insulator

Definitions

• This invention relates to thin films of compounds and alloy compounds of elements drawn from Group III and Group V of the periodic table, and is concerned particularly, but not exclusively, with the production of thin films of gallium arsenide or gallium arsenide compounds, for example for use in solar cells.
• gallium arsenide In bulk form gallium arsenide, or gallium arsenide compounds, can be used as the active semiconductor in solar cells with high conversion efficiency.
• Gallium arsenide is expensive so in order to reduce cell cost it is desirable to produce cells which use only very thin films of gallium arsenide while nevertheless retaining high conversion efficiency. Accordingly, the art has sought a method of producing photovoltaic cells with thin films of gallium arsenide using a manufacturing process which enables low cost mass production of large areas of cells.
• CVD chemical vapour deposition
• These CVD processes are similar to those used for the manufacture of expensive small area opto electronic components such as laser emitters.
• the CVD processes use at least two gaseous species separately containing gallium and arsenic-carrying molecules which react together when passed over a heated substrate to produce a thin film of gallium arsenide.
• the substrates are small and heated to a high temperature.
• the reactant species are gaseous trimethylgallium and arsine gas, or gaseous gallium chloride and arsine gas.
• a method of producing a thin film of a compound or alloy compound of Group III and Group V elements comprising impinging onto a heated substrate a liquid or liquids comprising molecules carrying the constituent elements of the desired film.
• the constituent elements of the compound or alloy compound to be produced react together to form the desired compound or alloy compound which is deposited on the substrate in the form of a thin film.
• the invention may be used for producing various types of thin film suitable for various different applications, including, for example, the production of thin films for use in large area light emitting diodes. Use of the invention for this purpose enables the production of large area displays at low cost.
• the invention also finds particular application in the production of thin films of gallium arsenide or gallium arsenide compounds, e.g. for use in solar cells.
• the present invention provides a method of producing a thin film of gallium arsenide or a gallium arsenide compound, comprising impinging onto a heated substrate a liquid or liquids comprising gallium and arsenic carrying molecules.
• the electrical characteristics of the film can be controlled to produce the desired properties for good solar cell operation by doping the gallium arsenide with small quantities of additional elements as is known in the art.
• the doping conditions can be made by adding suitable dopant-containing compounds to the liquid(s) to be impinged.
• the resulting thin film of gallium arsenide produced by this preferred method can be used to produce solar cells with any of the following structures; schottky barrier, metal- oxide-semiconductor, p/n homojunction, p/n heterojunction.
• the layer structure of these cell types is well known in the art.
• the liquid or liquids are conveniently sprayed onto the heated substrate.
• a suitable substrate is selected depending upon the intended use of the thin film.
• suitable substrates include glass, conductive oxide coated glass, graphite and metal coated graphite.
• the substrate temperature is selected depending upon the desired properties of the film to be formed and the intended use thereof.
• a suitable temperature is in the range of 200 0 C and 750°C, being selected to give optimum conversion efficiency for the chosen cell structure and spray system.
• Suitable systems for the deposition of gallium arsenide thin films include:
• a suitable inert gas could be dry nitrogen and a suitable reducing gas could be forming gas.
• the method of the invention may also be used for the production of thin film alloys suitable for use in solar cells and other opto-electronic devices, including aluminium gallium arsenide, gallium aluminium arsenic antimonide, gallium indium arsenide, and aluminium gallium indium arsenide.
• the present invention also includes within its scope a thin film produced by the method of the invention.
• the present invention provides a solar cell incorporating a thin film of gallium arsenide or gallium arsenide compound produced by the method of the invention.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Photovoltaic Devices (AREA)
• Liquid Deposition Of Substances Of Which Semiconductor Devices Are Composed (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Citations (7)

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• 1982
  • 1982-01-08 GB GB8200521A patent/GB2091236B/en not_active Expired
  • 1982-01-08 US US06/338,094 patent/US4427714A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1982-01-08 EP EP82300092A patent/EP0057054A1/de not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (7)

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